Drive circuit of power semiconductor device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9806593-B2
Application number	US-200913059429-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2009
Priority date	Aug 21, 2008
Publication date	Oct 31, 2017
Grant date	Oct 31, 2017

Abstract

In order to obtain a drive circuit of a power semiconductor device capable of making a fast response to a voltage fluctuation dV/dt and preventing a malfunction of the power semiconductor device while suppressing power consumption with a simple circuit configuration, a control circuit controlling ON and OFF switching of the power semiconductor device, a DC power supply supplying a voltage between control terminals of the power semiconductor device, and a switching element connected between the control terminals of the power semiconductor device are provided. The switching element turns ON in a case where a power supply voltage of the DC power supply drops or in a case where the voltage between the control terminals of the power supply device increases in a state where the power supply voltage of the DC power supply has dropped, and thereby causes a short-circuit between the control terminals of the power semiconductor device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A drive circuit of a power semiconductor device, comprising:
a control circuit that controls ON and OFF switching of the power semiconductor device;
a transistor that turns ON and OFF the power semiconductor device on the basis of a signal from the control circuit;
a DC power supply that supplies a voltage between control terminals of the power semiconductor device;
a normally-ON element that is connected between the control terminals of the power semiconductor device not via the transistor that turns ON and OFF the power semiconductor device, a control terminal of the normally-ON device being fixedly connected to ground; and
a diode that is connected in series with the normally-ON element between the control terminals of the power semiconductor device, the diode being directly connected to at least one of the control terminals of the power semiconductor device,
wherein the DC power supply includes
a first DC power supply that supplies a positive voltage between the control terminals of the power semiconductor device while the power semiconductor device is in an ON state, and
a second DC power supply that is connected between a negative terminal of the power semiconductor device and ground and between a positive terminal of the normally-ON element and ground, the second DC power supply supplying a negative voltage to the negative terminal of the power semiconductor device and the negative terminal of the normally-ON element while the power semiconductor device is in an OFF state; and
wherein the normally-ON element turns ON in a case where a power supply voltage of the second DC power supply that supplies the negative voltage to the negative terminal of the power semiconductor device drops below a predetermined value or turns ON in a case where a voltage between the control terminals of the power semiconductor device increases in a state where the power supply voltage of the second DC power supply that supplies the negative voltage to the negative terminal of the power semiconductor device has dropped, and thereby causes a short-circuit between the control terminals of the power semiconductor device.

2. The drive circuit of the power semiconductor device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an amplifier circuit that is connected between the control terminals of the power semiconductor device and amplifies a current flowing to the normally-ON element.

3. The drive circuit of the power semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the diode is connected such that an anode side thereof is on a gate terminal side of the power semiconductor device.

4. The drive circuit of the power semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein an absolute value of a threshold voltage of the normally-ON element is set below an absolute value of the negative voltage of the second DC power supply at a normal time.

5. The drive circuit of the power semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the power semiconductor device is a wide-gap semiconductor.

6. The drive circuit of the power semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the diode is connected such that an anode side thereof is on a gate terminal side of the power semiconductor device and a cathode side thereof is connected to an emitter terminal of the normally-ON element.

Assignees

• Nakayama Yasushi
• Nakagawa Ryosuke
• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Nakayama Yasushi
• Nakagawa Ryosuke

Classifications

• H03K2017/066

  Maximizing the OFF-resistance instead of minimizing the ON-resistance · CPC title

• H03K2217/0081

  Power supply means, e.g. to the switch driver · CPC title

• H02M1/08 Primary

  Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters · CPC title

• H03K17/08128

  in composite switches · CPC title

• H03K17/22

  Modifications for ensuring a predetermined initial state when the supply voltage has been applied (bi-stable generators H03K3/12) · CPC title